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The route to personalized medicine in bladder cancer: where do we stand?

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Abstract

Recent advances in molecular biology and drug design have described novel targets in bladder cancer. EGFR, fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), VEGFR, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, PD-1, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), Aurora kinase A, and miRNA are just examples of these opening frontiers. In addition, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are promising candidates for future therapeutic approaches. Novel agents, combination, and sequences are emerging from the 747 clinical studies presently in course in bladder cancer to optimize patient outcomes. This report describes the emerging targets and provides an update on ongoing phase I, II, and III trials and preliminary results on targeted agents, used alone, in sequences, or in combination for patients with bladder cancer.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by a grant of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC-IG 11930, AIRC 5 per mille 12214)

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The authors declare to have no conflicts of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Medical Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

      Francesco Massari, Chiara Ciccarese, Alessandra Modena & Giampaolo Tortora

    2. Medical Oncology, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, Ancona, Italy

      Matteo Santoni & Stefano Cascinu

    3. Department of Pathology and Diagnostic, A.O.U.I., University of Verona, Verona, Italy

      Matteo Brunelli & Guido Martignoni

    4. Department of Clinic and Specialistic Sciences—Urology, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, Ancona, Italy

      Alessandro Conti

    5. Section of Pathological Anatomy, School of Medicine, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, Ancona, Italy

      Rodolfo Montironi

    6. Department of Medical Oncology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy

      Daniele Santini

    7. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

      Liang Cheng

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    1. Francesco Massari
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Matteo Santoni.

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    Francesco Massari and Chiara Ciccarese contributed equally to this work.

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    Massari, F., Ciccarese, C., Santoni, M. et al. The route to personalized medicine in bladder cancer: where do we stand?. Targ Oncol 10, 325–336 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-015-0357-x

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